


Sunflower

by PixelEm



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Emotional, Flowers, Grief/Mourning, Heavy Angst, I Made Myself Cry, One-Shot, Parent-Child Relationship, Set before events of film, breakdown - Freeform, owl mom and hedgehog son, poor Sonic :'(, poor baby, post-movie spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:00:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22837450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PixelEm/pseuds/PixelEm
Summary: Warning: MAJOR spoilers ahead."He was in a strange world that was full of creatures he’d never seen before, with only a bag of loose Power Rings that his beloved caretaker had entrusted to him. Longclaw had stayed behind to let him escape the ones who wanted to hurt him — he was too slow to run back and save her. She wouldn’t have needed saving in the first place if he’d just listened to her. But he hadn’t, and now he was alone and Longclaw was gone. Because of him."Set immediately after Sonic first arrives on Earth.
Relationships: Sonic the Hedgehog & Longclaw, Sonic the Hedgehog & Longclaw the Owl
Comments: 9
Kudos: 110





	Sunflower

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! Welcome to my very first Sonic movie fic on here! I actually meant to finish a different one and upload THAT one first, but I just had to post something in my hype so here you go :D
> 
> And last call for spoiler town: if you haven't seen the film yet, I highly recommend you do that before reading further.
> 
> Also: beware the feels. That's all I gotta say.

The little hedgehog threw himself at the giant ring expecting to land back home, hoping that this was just another bad dream — that when the portal closed or if the echidnas got him that he would wake up a second later, wrapped in his caretaker’s soft yet strong wings while she told him that it was okay, it wasn’t real, nothing like that would ever happen.

But when he soared past the portal and instead landed in the coarse dark grass — a far cry from the plush and green ground back home — it hit him that everything that he’d just seen really did happen. This was real.

“L-Longclaw?” he called out on instinct, pushing himself back onto his hands and looking behind himself, his tiny heart fit to pound out of his chest.

The bag of rings she’d handed him sat in a muddy patch a little ways away while the air shimmered with dissipating flakes of golden dust. But the Power Ring was gone and, with it, the way back home.

_ “Longclaw! _ ” Sonic cried again, scrambling to his feet and dashing to where the ring had been hovering before it’d disappeared. Tears sprang to his eyes as he pawed at the empty air, as if willing the portal back into existence, still willing this to be just a terrible nightmare that he’d wake up from soon.

“No no no… n-no, Longclaw,  _ no _ …”

He’d never meant for this to happen. He’d just wanted to run, see more of South Island than just their little hut — he’d just wanted to go back to that flowerbed that Longclaw had taken him to see a few months ago, when she’d risked bringing him outside just so he could get the briefest glimpses of her favorite spots on the island — he’d only wanted to bring her back the best Mobian sunflower he could find in that bed because he’d remembered her saying that the sunflowers were her favorites and he’d raced back as fast as his legs could carry him, so fast, so that he could give her the flower so that she could smile down at him and tell him how proud she was of him and how much faster he was than he’d been just weeks ago —

But  _ they _ ’d seen him instead, that vicious echidna tribe that lived on a nearby island whom she’d always warned him about, the ones she’d said would stop at nothing to get their paws on any form of power and Chaos energy, the same energy that coursed through Sonic’s body ever since he was born, the energy that she’d said they would hurt him in ways she couldn’t even describe just to obtain —

What were they doing  _ now _ ? What were they doing now that the portal was closed and every ring on South Island that could open another was now at the other end of the universe? What did they do when they realized what had happened, that Longclaw had sent what they wanted —  _ who _ they wanted — as far away from their clutches as she could and had stayed behind and had put herself between them and him for just a few more precious seconds just to ensure that they would never be able to catch him, just  _ what did they do _ — ?

The image of the fresh wound in his caretaker’s side, inflicted by one of the echidnas’ deadly sharp arrows, flashed through Sonic’s mind. It flashed a second time even more vividly —  _ her scream pierced him like the arrow had struck him instead _ — and he gasped a tiny sob.

_ “I-I gotta go back!” _ Sonic stumbled back to the bag of rings as quickly as he could, his thoughts propelling him forwards despite the terrified tears that kept threatening to fall. “ _ I gotta go back must go back I have to save her can’t let them hurt her I CAN’T LET THEM HURT HER —! _ ”

His tiny hands, shaking like twigs in the wind, finally managed to wrench the bag open and pull out one of those golden Power Rings. It weighed as much as a small pebble but was a little bit bigger than his own palm; he felt like he could feel its energy pulsing through it even through his thick glove.

But when he lifted it to toss it just like he’d seen Longclaw do several times before, the checkered landscapes and natural loops of South Island fresh in his mind, a thought stopped him:

_ “Never stop running.” _

He heard it in Longclaw’s voice so clearly it was if she was standing right next to him.

_ “Run, Sonic. Keep going. Don’t ever stop running.” _

Those were her final instructions to him before the portal had closed. Before she’d had to say goodbye to him. She’d told him to get away from what was coming for him, which was now coming for _ her _ —

Sonic blinked at the ring sitting in his hands as he realized this: what would Longclaw say if she really  _ was _ right next to him right now? If she saw that ring? If she saw what he was about to do?

_ “Don’t. You can’t go back. You can’t.” _ Now he heard his own voice, answering every question that he had:  _ “She told you to run away. You can't go back to her. You can’t stop running, just like she said. She said stay hidden, stay safe. You have to stay here. If you go back you won’t be safe like she wants, they’ll hurt her  _ and _ they’ll hurt you even more. You HAVE to stay here. There will always be someone who wants to hurt you or get your powers —” _

That was when he realized with a jolt what had really happened: it was because of  _ HIM. _ He didn’t listen to Longclaw at home. She’d told him not to run around but he did anyway. She told him not to go outside without her but he did anyway. He’d ran to that flowerbed without her, so sure that nobody saw him, except somebody  _ did _ , and he’d lied when he told her that he’d stay out of sight and now he was on a totally different planet and he was far from home without her because he let somebody see him and now she was without him and was instead with the echidnas who were probably hurting her more than he could ever imagine  _ all because he wanted to bring her a stupid sunflower _ —

All of these thoughts weighed down on Sonic’s mind until he couldn’t carry them anymore. He dropped to his knees, the Power Ring clattering to the dark, earthy ground. He curled into a tight ball, his whole body quaking with wet sobs. He cried Longclaw’s name and screamed that he was sorry, that he’d never do it again, and wailed even harder when the arrow that had wounded her flew through his mind yet again. 

He cried even after he’d run out of tears — and the longer he went, the more he felt his fur begin to spark. The current seemed to start from the bases of his quills and then travel outward from there until his whole body pulsed with electricity. He knew what was going on; it’d happened every other time he’d been upset like this, and when it had first happened Longclaw had had to hold him until he calmed down before she could cooly tell him that it was just another part of his  _ powers _ ...

He wished he didn’t have these stupid powers. He wished he’d been born a normal hedgehog with a normal life ahead of him, one where he didn’t have to keep running, where he could go outside and be a normal kid and live with Longclaw and never have to worry about keeping himself hidden or putting the mentor that he loved like she’d given him life herself in danger ever again —

Trying to stop it couldn’t have been farther from his mind. He kept going until the electricity became too much for his tiny body to contain — unlike the previous times, though, now he didn’t have Longclaw to help him work through it.

As another guttural wail tore through him a great wave of energy surged through him, singeing his fur and making it stand on end, burning his eyes everywhere his tears hadn’t stung yet. 

Somewhere in his whirl of grief he heard a sharp crack, then a pop like a thunderclap.

He felt the shockwave begin to leave him —

_ “BWORF!” _

— and the sudden noise seemed to startle the rest from him. With a shudder that shook his whole body the energy wave pulsed out of him, through his quills, through his hands and feet and into the ground beneath him.

For a moment it felt like the grass and dirt and trees around him were humming with his same energy. 

An explosion of blue light flashed outside his still-shut eyelids.

_ “BWAORF! BWORF BOORR!” _

“ _ Whoa _ , Rosie!  _ Rosie _ ! Get back here, girl! Get away from there!”

Sonic finally uncurled himself, falling forwards onto his stomach with his arms and legs splayed out, his little chest heaving with ragged breaths. He felt spent enough to lay there for the rest of his days, but the shouts forced him to lift himself quickly.

His head whipped around to where he’d heard them, and nearly fell back over when a bright white light drowned his vision.

“What in the — !?”

_ “BARK  _ **_BARK_ ** _!” _

In an instant, the fear that had gripped him from seeing those echidnas came rushing back. Between the trees, behind the light, loomed  _ something _ ; he’d never seen anything like it and had only heard stories about them from Longclaw. It had a slim bipedal shape like a Mobian, except far taller than anyone he’d ever seen back home, bigger than even Longclaw, and even in what little light that was shining on it he could see that it was, most shocking of all, totally furless; only a small patch sat on top of its head, just above its two small eyes that stared at him from the middle of its face, and the rest of it was covered head to toe in some loose yet fitting fabric that Sonic rarely saw on any Mobian back home save for a select few.

Was this a _ human _ ?

He couldn’t contemplate this for long before a second creature came bounding towards him from behind the light, tail lashing and teeth flashing, the humanlike creature stumbling after it.

_ “Run, Sonic. Just RUN.” _

He wouldn’t disobey Longclaw again.

He snatched the bag of rings and sped deeper into the strange new forest.

He could hear them shouting after him but he refused to look back because if he slowed down again —

“WAHH!”

He didn’t get very far at all when the ground seemed to lower beneath him. He caught his foot and tumbled forwards, putting his hands out but only feeling air. He yelped as he fell further into darkness, cried as he bounced from hard, dull rocks.

He’d only been falling for the better half of a second, but to Sonic it felt like he’d never feel stable ground again. He landed hard on a moss bed but on his side, forcing a whimper out of him. The rings scattered from the bag on impact, tinkling across the dark. 

He heard footsteps, snuffling above him, near the entrance of the cave he’d just fallen from. He turned his head to look back up at it, though he didn’t dare move. Was it a small entrance? Could that thing still get in? Were they going to get him?

The barking started again, piercing through Sonic’s trembling body. Unbidden tears sprang to his eyes once more. He realized how hard he was shaking and covered his mouth to muffle his own involuntary whimpers.

The barking always sounded like it was inching closer, although not a single other creature came down to him. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped.

“Come on now, girl, leave it. It’s late. It doesn’t matter anymore. No, I don’t care. It was probably just some schoolkids’ pranks, come on.”

He heard a rustle above, with the toothed creature’s whines layered beneath it. The other creature — he was  _ sure _ it was a human now — muttered something that he didn’t catch, but the whines quieted in response. 

The footsteps began again. 

Sonic didn’t dare relax a muscle until he heard nothing except the crickets outside the cave.

He still didn’t get up. He rolled onto his other side, where the now-empty bag of rings sat. He stared at it, at the rings that glinted around him. He heaved a breath and shut his watering eyes — he knew it wasn’t bedtime yet, but it was dark and his body wouldn’t move and this moss was so soft like feathers…

~x~

_ “This here is a daisy.” _

_ “I know that! They’re everywhere at home!” _

_ “Hm, alright then. Do you know THIS one?” _

_ “Umm…” _

_ “That is an orchid. You see how the petals form a star?” _

_ “...Oh! I see it! I see it!” _

_ “Good. Now, look here.” _

_ “Wow! Those are really purple!” _

_ “They are, aren’t they? It’s what gives violets their famous name.” _

_ “Really? Well, that’s boring.” _

_ “Why do you say that?” _

_ “Why can’t they have a cooler name? Like… like  _ — _ ” _

_ “Well, if you’re looking for ‘cooler’ names in this bed then you should look behind you. See? Chrysanthemums.” _

_ “Cry-so-WHAT? You made that up!” _

_ Longclaw chuckled and lightly flicked Sonic’s ears with her wing, which made him giggle — not too loud though, as always. He didn’t want to let anyone know that he was there, as he’d been told countless times before. She’d used the same reasoning when she’d insisted he travel with her here in her carrier bag (even though he thought he was getting too big for it). He stared up at her from the opening, the cover flap still loosely buckled to conceal his blue quills as best as possible. The rest of his body stayed snug in the bag itself, though his little feet couldn’t stop fidgeting. _

_ “Please, Longclaw?  _ Please _?” He put his hands together and smiled his best smile. _

_ Despite his best efforts, Longclaw still shook her head. “No, little one, but you still can’t go out. You have to stay safe, remember?” _

_ “But you said this was a secret flowerbed! Nobody’s gonna  _ — _ ” _

_ “It’s as secret as it can get on this island. But it’s still a huge risk, bringing you out here. I still have to be on my guard, and you have to stay hidden.” _

_ He stuck out his lip and sunk further into the bag. “Bummer…” _

_ He was ready to ask to go home now, he was getting tired, when Longclaw said “Hm… actually…” and took off.  _

_ Sonic peeked out of the opening again to see they were at a small cliffside instead of the huts. The ground was dark from the shadows the nearby hills made, though it was just as green and just as pretty. Then Sonic noticed the flower. _

_ “That’s a sunflower!” he blurted, then tilted his head; “...Why is it all bendy like that?” _

_ “You’ve got quite the keen eye, you do,” Longclaw said, and then surprised Sonic by unlatching her carrier bag with a talon and lifting Sonic from it. His eyes widened at the sensation of being in the air, even more so at being OUTSIDE in the air so far from home. Longclaw cradled then set him down in front of the flower in question, creating a protective circle around them both with her wings. _

_ “Its stem  _ is _ certainly bending, but look where the flower itself is facing,” she went on as Sonic’s fingertips grazed the pointed yellow petals, “Do you see how it bends out of the shadows? So that the flower faces  _ where _ …?” _

_ Sonic glanced from the flower to the air where it was facing, wondering for a second if flowers had eyes what they’d look at, when it clicked. _

_ “The sun!” he chirped, his eyes flashing, “It still wants to see the sun!” _

_ Longclaw nodded, her beak curling into a grin yet again. “Indeed, Sonic. It needs the sunlight to survive, and it will do anything to get it. Not even the shadows here can stop it. It is the only sunflower I have seen growing in this area because of it.” _

_ “Really? Wow! What a special sunflower!” He looked to it again, taking in its curved stem and vibrant petals. Then he spun around to face Longclaw again, the wonky flower almost immediately forgotten. “Hey, why  _ are _ sunflowers your favorites, Longclaw?” He tilted his head at her, genuinely curious. _

_ “Why? Hm…” She put a wing to her beak, glancing into the distance. “...Well, I suppose they’re such a part of the island. They aren’t very flashy, but they aren’t dull either. They’re simple and they’re perfect, just like home should be. But…” _

_ Now she bent down to his eye level, one eyebrow raised but her kind smile ever-present.  _

_ “...do you know why else I love sunflowers?”  _

_ She talked quietly like she was telling him a secret, which made Sonic excited. _

_ “No, why?” he whispered back just as furtively, rubbing his tiny hands together. _

_ Then he had to stifle a squeak when Longclaw swept him into her giant wings, squeezing him in an embrace. _

_ “They’re bright and wonderful,” she said, a chuckle behind her voice, “not unlike a certain little hedgehog I know…” _

_ Sonic giggled, which turned into a small laughing fit as Longclaw bent her head and nuzzled his belly with her beak. He tried to wriggle away to no avail; she was simply too strong to let him go. Not that Sonic ever wanted her to let him go.  _

_ When he finally crawled back into the carrier bag so that they could head home, he imagined what a flower garden next to their hut might look like. He wondered if Longclaw would like that idea. _

~x~

Sonic woke up with sunlight on his skin, tears on his face, and his memory of Longclaw fresh in his mind. He still couldn’t stand up without whimpering his discomfort, though he still tried. 

It was all real. He got that now. He really was in a cave in a strange world, full of creatures he’d never seen before, with only a bag of loose Power Rings that his beloved caretaker had entrusted to him. Longclaw had stayed behind to let him escape the echidnas who wanted to hurt him — he was too slow to run back and save her. She wouldn’t have needed saving in the first place if he’d just _ listened to her _ . But he hadn’t, and now he was alone and Longclaw was gone. Because of  _ him _ .

Sniffling, he began gathering the rings that had spilled from Longclaw’s bag, one at a time As he did so he quietly told Longclaw that he would do as he was told, that he’d never stop running, just like she told him. He promised her that he would keep running and he’d get faster, fast enough to save anyone. 

He didn’t want to be slow again.

**Author's Note:**

> That opening scene, as short as it was, had such an impact on me. I knew I wanted to write something for Sonic after he loses Longclaw (the poor baby), but this fic was also partly inspired by this gorgeous artwork by DelDiz: https://www.deviantart.com/deldiz/art/What-ve-I-done-830704892 I've been following their art ever since the original trailer, and I highly recommend you go check out her whole gallery if you're a Movie Sonic fan :D
> 
> So how was that? I haven't written really ansgty fic like this in a while, so I hope it's still good. 
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! See you in the next one!
> 
> ~Pixel


End file.
